Method of separating and indenting stitches of finished seams.



PATENTBD APR. 11', 1905;

q No.786,891.

J; B. HADAW METHOD OF SEPARATING AND INDE-NTING STITQHES OF FINiSHEDSEAMS.

UN ITEf) STATES Patented April 1 i, 1905 PATENT OFFICE.

METHOD OF SEPARATING AND INDENTING .STITCHES OFFINISHED SEAMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 786,891, dated April11, 1905,

Application filed June 18, 1904' Serial No. 213,092.

To all whmn it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN B. HADAWAY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Brockton, in the county of Plymouth and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inMethods of Separating and Indenting the Stitches I of aFinished Scam,and 1 do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which itappertains to make and use the same.

In operating upon a finished seam to indent the intervals between thestitches and to shape the crowns of the stitches it has heretofore bG6Il'l?ll6 practice to shape the crown of a stitch simultaneously with theformation of the indentation which separates the stitch from thesucceeding stitch, a tool provided with a single groove of the shapewhich it is desired to impart to the crown of the stitch being usuallyemployed. It is desirable that the groove in the tool be shallow inorder that the crowns of the stitches may be separated by wideindentations, so as to bring them into prominence, the best resultsbeing secured when the side walls of the groove are arranged at an angleof about ninety degrees with relation to each other. When, however, thetool is provided with a shallow groove, difficulty is experienced incausing the tool to impart the desired shape to the crowns of thestitches on account of the great resistance offered by the work to thetool and the tendency of the material to return to its original positionas soon as the tool is withdrawn from the work. The stitch separatingand indenting operation is usually performed automatically by means of amachine provided with suitable mechanism for actuating the. tool tolocate and'indent the stitch intervals and shape the crowns of thestitches. When the machine is provided with a tool having a shallowgroove, dificulty isexperienced in causing the tool to properly locatethe stitch intervals when the stitches vary in length. Furthermore, inmanystitchseparating machines the tool is utilized to feed the work, andwhen a tool provided with a shallow groove is used the tool is notalways forced into' the Work a sufficient distance to enable it to feedthe Work with certainty.

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved methodparticularly adapted to be performed automatically by a stitchseparating and indenting machine, but also capable of being performed byhand, by which the stitch intervals of a finished seam can be indentedand the crowns of the stitches permanently shaped in a certain andreliable manner.

With the above object in view the present invention contemplates firstcompressing the material between the stitches to form stitchseparatingindentations and thereafter compressing the material between theindentations to shape the crowns of the separated stitches. By firstindenting the intervals between the stitches the indentations can beformed accurately in the stitch intervals whether the stitches are ofuniformor of varying length, this operation being equally capable ofbeing performed either automatically or by a hand-operated tool. Thesubsequent operation of shaping the crowns of the stitches merelynecessitates compressing the material between the indentations, so thatthe crowns of the stitches can'be readily compressed into the desiredshape either by an automaticallyactuated or a hand-operated tool. Sincethe stitches are first separated by means of indentations whichaccurately coincide with the stitch intervals, any injury to thestitches is avoided and the crowns of the indented stitches present auniform appearance in the completed shoe. Preferably the crowns of thestitches are partially shaped simultaneously with the formation of thestitch-separating indentations, as thereby the crown of each stitch iscompressed twice and is more readily brought to its final shape and thetendency of the material toreturn to its original position is moreefiectually overcome.

The present invention Wlll b6 clearly understood from an inspection ofthe accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a diagrammatic viewillustrating the appearance of the seam before the stitches thereof areindented. Fig. 2 is a similar view illustrating the appearance of thedented and the crowns of the stitches seam after the stitch intervalshave been inartially shaped. Fig. 3 is a similar view i lustrating theappearance of the seam after the final shape has been imparted to thecrowns of the stitches, and Figs. 4 and- 5 are diagrammatic viewsillustrating an indenting-tool by which the steps of the methodconstituting the present invention can be carried out and the manner inwhich the tool acts upon the seam.

In accordance with the present invention the stitches 1 of the seam(illustrated in Fig. 1) are separated by compressing the material at thestitch intervals 2 to form indentations 3, as indicated in Fig. 2, thecrowns of the stitches being preferably partially shaped simultaneouslywith the formation of the stitch-separating indentations, as alsoindicated in Fig. 2. The material between the stitch-separatingindentations is then compressed to bring the crowns of the stitches intotheir final shape, as indicated at 4 in Fig. 3. If desired, all or anynumber of the stitches may be separated by forming indentations in thestitch intervals before the crowns of any of the stitches are compressedto bring them into their final shape. It is deemed preferable, however,to perform the operations of separating the stitches and shaping thecrowns simultaneously, an indentation being formed in the intervalbetween two stitches while the crown of a separated stitch is beingcompleted, and in Figs. 4 and 5 a tool is illustrated by which theseoperations can be performed in this manner. The tool illustrated isprovided with two grooves 5 and 6, arranged to act upon the crowns ofadjacent stitches and with a stitch separating and indenting blade 7 atone side of the groove 6, the blade being formed by one side wall of thegroove 6 and by an inclined surface on the side of the tool. Theadjacent side walls of the grooves 5 and 6 form a blade 8 between thegrooves, and a blade 9 is formed at the side of the groove 5 by one sidewall of the groove and an inclined surface on the side of the tool. Theside walls of the groove 5 are arranged at an angle of about ninetydegrees with relation to each other, and the side walls of the groove 6are arranged at a lesser angle with relation to each other, the groovesbeing of substantially the same width but of diiferent depths. In theoperation of the tool on the scam the blade 7 is first located in astitch interval, as

indicated in Fig. 4, the other portions of the tool being out of contactwith the work. The tool is then depressed, as indicated in Fig. 5, theblade 7 forming the indentation between two stitches, the groove 6partially shaping the crown of a stitch and the groove 5 completing thecrown of the separated stitch, which was partially shaped at thepreceding descent of the tool. The blades 8 and 9 enter the indentationspreviously made by the blade 7 and act to compress the material in thebottoms of the grooves in case it has returned toward its originalposition.

It will be evident-that by the use of the tool illustrated in Figs. 4and 5 the method which constitutes the present invention can beperformed automatically by a stitch separating and indentin machine, theblade 7 being automaticallylocated in the stitch intervals whether thestitches are of uniformv or of varying len th and. the crown of eachstitch being acte( upon twice by the tool to bring it into its finalshape.

While it is preferred to use a tool provided with two grooves inpracticing the method, as thereby the different steps can be performedsimultaneously and, if desired, auto; matically, it is to be understoodthat other forms of tools may be used and that the operations may beperformed successively, either automatically or by hand.

The invention having been thus described, what is claimed is 1. Themethod of separating and indenting the stitches of a finished seam whichconsists in compressing the material between the stitches to formstitch-separating indentations and then compressing the material betweensaid indentations to shape the crowns of the separated stitches,substantially as described.

2. The method of separating and indenting the stitches of a finishedseam which consists in compressing the material to formstitch-separating indentations in the stitch intervals and partiallyshape the crowns of the stitches and then compressing the materialbetween said indentations to complete the crowns of the separatedstitches, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN B. IIADAIVAY.

Witnesses:

FRED O. FIsH, HoRAoE VAN EVEREN.

